Jan. 13: HIV Trial of Atlanta Man to Include OMSJ Defense Expert From Amgen Who Designed Original HIV Tests - EWORLDWIRE

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Jan. 13: HIV Trial of Atlanta Man to Include OMSJ Defense Expert From Amgen Who Designed Original HIV Tests

Media Advisory

CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga./EWORLDWIRE/Jan. 7, 2014 --- The Amgen senior chemist who co-designed HIV testing technologies and is now an expert with the Office of Medical and Scientific Justice (OMSJ) is scheduled to testify for the defense in the January 13 trial of Craig Lamar Davis. Arrested in Clayton County in July 2012, prosecutors charged Davis with aggravated assault for not disclosing his alleged HIV-positive status to a sexual partner, a felony in Georgia. If convicted, Davis faces a prison sentence of one to 10 years.

With support from OMSJ, a non-profit investigative agency comprised of legal and scientific experts, Davis' defense centers on medical records that do not establish whether Davis is - or ever was - infected with HIV.

Rodney Richards, Ph.D., an associate of OMSJ, worked at the biotech giant for 13 years. During the early days of the AIDS scare, he supervised the development of the first HIV diagnostic tests. Originally intended only to rule out HIV in blood donor banks, HIV tests proliferated into mainstream medical practice and became the standard used to diagnose actual HIV infection. "The problem," says Richards, is “none of the 39 HIV-related diagnostic tests or devices currently approved by the FDA claim to confirm the actual presence of HIV in any sample with any degree of accuracy."

No HIV test on the market today is able to identify the actual virus.

Accused in 2012 of engaging in unprotected sex with three different partners in the Atlanta area, Davis, 42, was arrested after two women allegedly tested positive for HIV and filed police reports. One woman claimed Davis was "a married pastor" but, through his attorney, John Turner, Davis denies he was ever a pastor and disputes his HIV positive status. He was separated from his wife during this time, Turner says.

Former Amgen chemist Richards and Nancy Banks, M.D., a board certified gynecologist and sexually transmitted disease specialist, will challenge the accuracy of the HIV tests administered to Davis during 2009 to 2012. Medical reports produced by the prosecution allege that Davis tested positive on several different tests. However, the defense says none of the reports contain the actual tests results, nor evidence of how the tests were conducted, or the identity and qualifications of the physicians and laboratory technicians who allegedly performed them.

Founded by investigator and retired LAPD officer Clark Baker, OMSJ provides medical, scientific, legal and investigative support to the victims of unapproved and unreliable medical and scientific practices. Of the more than 50 cases completed since 2009, all but three have resulted in favorable plea agreements, acquittal, or the withdrawal of all HIV-related charges.

"To date," says defense expert Banks, "there is no practical test for screening that indicates, with any medical or scientific accuracy, whether a person has the HIV virus and is infectious. All HIV tests are an assumption, made by clinicians, but not direct proof. A direct, reliable method would be to culture the virus from blood or other body tissue. However, this has never been accomplished."

Learn more about the work of the Office of Medical & Scientific Justice Inc. at http://www.omsj.org.